“The great thing about this is it gives you a much easier way of making your donation,” said Johnson . “It's really convenient when all you have to do is punch in a couple of numbers.”

Johnson, 40, is among the tens of thousands of Americans who have harnessed the power of text messages and social media outlets this week to elevate the mobile giving movement to new heights — in terms of notoriety and actual dollars — to help victims of the Haiti quake.

Experts are calling the more than $6 million received as of Thursday afternoon through cell phone donations the largest ever outpouring of charitable support via texting.

How to donate

Anyone with a cell phone and an account with a major wireless provider can text the phrase “Haiti” to the number 90999 and donate $10 to the Red Cross, which said it had already raised more than $5 million. The Yele Haiti campaign urges people to donate $5 to by texting “YELE” to 501501. The amount is charged to the donor's cell phone bill.

“This is the first time we've ever reached this level as an industry,” said Albert Angel, CEO of the Miami-based Give on the Go campaign, which has teamed up with the Yele Haiti Foundation to raise more than $1 million. “If you look at text donation, it's the new kid on the block. But it has a grass-roots appeal, and people can react immediately because they have their mobile phones at all times.”

Cell phones are more popular than ever and text messaging has become an almost everyday activity for tens of millions over the last couple of years. But the prowess of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook can't be discounted in this case, either. Both sites heavily publicized the text-based donation efforts.

“There are a couple of things that have converged to make this moment a big deal,” said Jennifer Henderson, an associate professor who teaches a course in social media in Trinity University's communication department. “It's a perfect storm of social media and the earthquake disaster coming together in a really wonderfully positive way.”

Angel added, “Thanks to Twitter and Facebook, this is the fastest viral takeoff I have seen.”

Verifying the deal

Geraldine Gray, a Houston-based consultant, texted to donate $10 to the Red Cross after seeing fellow Twitter users announce they had just given as well. Normally wary of texting , she went to the Internet to verify carriers were really participating.

“Once I knew it was real, I sent the text and the whole process took less than a minute,” said Gray . “It was easy.”

For Brian Webb, a Missouri City resident, it was a way to help despite being so far away.

“You see it, and you kind of feel helpless when you see all this calamity going on you're here and don't know what to do,” said Webb, who texted to donate to the Red Cross. “I was just playing a small part, but if we all gave $10, what a difference that could make over there.”